Spring seal for tube and shell heat exchangers



y 6, 1952 w. UGGERBY 2,595,822

SPRING SEAL FOR TUBE AND SHELL. HEAT EXCHANGERS Filed on. 25, 1949 IN V EN TOR.

BY @A.

ATmEWW Patented May 6, 1952 SPRING SEAL FOR TUBE AND SHELL HEAT EXCHANGERS William Uggerby, Racine, Wis., assignor to Young Radiator Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application October 25, 1949, Serial No. 123,400

In the manufacture of tube and shell heatexchangers, of the type wherewith this invention is adaptable, as they have heretofore been constructed, one of the problems has been to insure a satisfactory fluid-tight contact of the bafiies of the tube assembly with the shell. Obviously, this is essential in order to preclude the fluid by-passing its normal flow around the cutoff section of the baffie, and thereby reduce the efiieiency of the heat-exchanger. The core unit of tubes, headers, and baflles, is first assembled and then slid into the shell. Of necessity this must be a press-fit operation for the bafiles. If, perchance, a baflie is slightly over-size, or undersize, and/or not truly concentric with the shell axis, a gap between a baflle and the shell or a distortion or displacement of the baffle might result in a failure to have the desired fluid-tight contact of the baffle with the shell throughout its entire periphery.

The main objects of this invention, therefore, are to provide an improved form of baflle construction for use with tube and shell heat-exchangers; to provide an improved peripheral formation of baflles of this kind which facilitates the insertion of the tube and baffle assembly, with its header supports, into the shell so as to secure a practically fluid-tight seal between the 'bafiles and the shell; to provide an improved, yielding, peripheral seal for baifies in structures of this kind which can be placed on the bafiies either before or after assembly with the tubes, and which will yield sufliciently to allow the tube and bafile as sembly to slide into the shell with the application of very little pressure and be completely free from the danger of distorting or displacing any of the bafiles, or leaving gaps between the baflies and shell; and to provide a yielding peripheral seal of this kind which is economical to manufacture and assemble and which eliminates practically all possibility of by-pass leaks around the bafiles.

In the accompanying drawings:

' Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a tube and shell heat-exchanger of the type wherewith baflles constructed in accordance with this invention are particularly adapted for use;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional, elevation of one end of a tube and shell heat-exchanger equipped with bailles embodying this invention and showing the manner of mounting one end of the tube and bafile assembly on the shell;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of one of the disks and spring seal which constitute this improved form of baflle; and

5 Claims. (Cl. 257-236) Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the same showing the spring seal in place on the disk.

A tube and shell heat-exchanger 5, Wherewith spring-sealed bafiies 6 embodying this invention are adapted for use, comprises a core unit I telescoped into a shell 8 to provide for the exchange of heat between two fluids of diiiering temperatures flowing through and around the core unit 7.

lhe core unit 7 comprises a bundle of tubes 9 arranged in parallel, radially-spaced relationship and bonded at their ends to header-plates it, thereby forming a labyrinth Hv around the tubes 8 intermediate the header-plates l0 and Within the shell 8.

The shell 8 is a cylindrical casting provided with a fluid inlet l2 and a fluid outlet I3 communicating with the core-labyrinth II and having the open ends of the shell closed with end plates I4 wherein are formed ports [5 communicating with the tubes 9.

Yielding support for one end of the core unit 7 within the shell is provided to allow for the expansion and contraction of the core unit 7. In the present embodiment this involves a diaphragm l6 clamped between a pair of rings l1 and i8, and between a shell-flange I9 and the ported plate Hi. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, the rings H and I8 are secured together by suitable bolts and nuts 20, with the inner ring ii bonded to the adjacent header-plate I 0 by a sleeve 21. The ported plate [4 is secured to the shell flange 9 by suitable bolts and nuts 22.

A spring-sealed baffle 6, constructed in accordance with this invention, comprises a truncated, apertured disk or plate 24 and a truncated ring 25 of channel-shaped cross-section embracing the peripheral portion of said disk 24.

As will be noted from Fig. 3, the truncated rin 25 is formed with one end of each of the parallel sections extended beyond the other to provide shoulders 27. After the disk 24 and ring 25 are assembled, these shoulders are struck down, as shown in Fig. 4, to insure the retention of the truncated ring 25 on the truncated disk i i.

A plurality of such baffies 6 are assembled on the bundle of tubes a, being spaced apart axially so that when in the shell 8 they divide the labyrinth H into a plurality of compartments communicating through the spaces 25 between the cut-off part of each disk 24 and the shell 8. Adjacent baflies are oppositely disposed so as to direct a normal fluid flow axially through said shell in a constantly-reversing radial direction.

The truncated ring 25 is formed of spring material with the internal diameter of the channel slightly greater than the diameter of the disk 24, and the channel so formed that it fits the disk 24 snugly and forms a practically fluid-tight contact therewith. (See Fig. 2.) Thus, when the truncated rings 25 are inplace on the disks 24, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the core unit I is slid into the shell 8, the truncated rings 25 compress slightly to accommodate the external circumference of the ring 24 to that of the interior wall of the shell 8, and provide a practically fluid-tight seal around the peripheral part of the ring 25.

To assemble a truncated ring 25 on a truncated disk 24 they are placed in parallel axial alinement and the ring is sprung sufliciently to allow the sidewise insertion of the disk into the ring. The truncated rings 25 may be assembled on the truncated disks 24 before or after the disks have been assembled on the tubes I I.

A secondary advantage of this form of springseal bafile is that the core unit 7 may be easily removed for repair or cleaning.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it will be understood that details of the construction shown may be altered without departing 'from the spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A battle for tube and shell heat-exchangers comprising, a plate apertured for assembly on a bundle of parallel radially-spaced tubes bonded to headers and thereafter insertable into a shell whereby said plate divides the interior of said shell around said tubes into separate compartments on opposite sides of said plate, and an arcuate-shaped spring metal element embracing a major peripheral portion of said plate and circumferentially contractible in the plane of said plate to permit the sliding insertion of said tubesupported plate into said shell and thereby form a practically fluid-tight seal between said compartments around said major peripheral portion of said plate but allowing communication between said compartments around that peripheral portion of the plate not embraced by said element.

2. A baiile for tube and shell heat-exchangers comprising, a truncated disk apertured for assembly on a bundle of parallel radially-spaced tubes bonded to supporting headers and thereafter insertable into a shell whereby said disk divides the interior of said shell around said tubes into separate compartments on opposite sides of said disk, a truncated spring metal ring of channel-shaped cross-section embracing the circumferential peripheral portion of said disk and contractible in the plane of said disk to permit the sliding insertion of said tube-supported disk into said shell to form a practically fluid-tight seal between said compartments around said peripheral portion of said disk.

3. A heat-exchanger core of the class described for assembly with a supporting shell comprising, a bundle of parallel radially-spaced tubes spanning and bonded at their ends to header plates, a plurality of apertured truncated disks assembled on said tubes in axially-spaced relationship with the truncated portions of adjacent disks oppositely disposed to form bafiles dividing said shell into communicating compartments and directing a fluid flow axially through said shell in a constantly-reversing radial direction, and an armate-shaped spring metal element of channelshaped cross-section embracing the circumferential peripheral portions of each of the respective disks and each independently circumferentially contractible in the plane of the respective disks to permit a sliding insertion of said core into a shell, whereby said yielding elements form a practically fluid-tight seal between said compartments and said shell and the peripheral portions of said disks.

4. In a tube and shell heat-exchanger, the combination of a shell, a heat-exchanger core unit comprising a bundle of parallel radially-spaced tubes spanning and bonded at their ends to header plates, a plurality of apertured truncated disks assembled on said tubes in axiallyspaced relationship with the truncated portions of adjacent disks oppositely disposed to form bafiies dividing said shell into communicating compartments and directing a fluid flow axially through said shell in constantly-reversing radial direction, and a truncated spring metal ring of channel-shaped cross-section embracing the peripheral portion of each of said disks and ex pansible and contractible in the plane of the respective disks to insure contacting of the periphcry of each ring the interior of said shell to form a practically fluid-tight seal between said compartment around said shell and the peripheral portions of said disks.

5. A baiile for tube and shell heat-exchangers comprising, a truncated disk apertured for assembly on a bundle of parallel radially-spaced tubes bonded to supporting headers and thereafter insertable into a shell whereby said disk divides the interior of said shell around said tubes into separate compartments on opposite sides of said disk, an arcuate-shaped spring metal element of channel-shaped cross-section with an inside diameter of the channel normally slightly greater than the diameter of said disk to permit a yielding embracing of said element around the circumferential periphery of said disk and circumferentially contractible in the plane of said disk to permit the sliding insertion of said tube-supported disk into said shell and form a practically fluid-tight seal between said compartments around said disk, and shouldersformed at the ends of said arcuate-shaped element adapted to engage the edge of the subtended periphery of said truncated disk for removably holding said element in place on said disk.

WILLIAM UGGERBY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,689,910 Brocklebank Oct. 30, 1928 1,822,698 How Sept. 8, 1931 2,024,209 Doyle et a1 Dec. 17, 1935 2,376,505 Rathbun et a1 May 22, 1945 2,469,785 Alcock May 10, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 530,357 Great Britain Dec. 10, 1940 

